1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to online advertising, and more particularly to display of online advertisements.
2. Description of Related Art
A search engine may allow users to search for web pages or other materials accessible over the Internet with one or more search terms. After receiving from a user a search request including one or more search terms, a search engine may parse the search term(s) from the search request, identify web pages that may be related to the search term(s), and display on a result page information about the web pages as a list of search results, e.g., a link to a web page containing the search term(s). The search results may be ranked according to their relevance to the search terms, with the most relevant search result being positioned at the top of the list. The relevance may be determined according to search engine algorithms of a search engine service provider.
The search engine service provider may also display advertisements as a separate list on a result page displaying the search results. The search engine service provider may sign contracts with a number of advertisers (e.g., Macy's™, and GM™), and display a link to an advertiser's website when a search term in a search request is related to the advertiser's products or services. For example, when the search terms include “camera,” a list of relevant search results may be displayed at one portion of a result page, and a list of advertisements may be displayed at another portion of the result page. An advertisement may include some brief information about a camera manufacturer or a camera store, and a link to its website. An advertiser may be charged according to the number of clicks on its link (Pay Per Click) or the number of times its advertisement is displayed (Pay Per Impression). Since the advertisements are related to the search term(s) of a search request, it is more likely that the user will be interested in the advertisements, and in this way advertising may be better targeted at users.
The list of relevant search results may take up a number of result pages, and each result page may expand over several screens. However, the list of advertisements may be shorter than a screen. Some currently available solutions start to display the list of advertisements from the top of a result page. The position of the advertisement list is fixed and static. When a user scrolls down to look at search results at a lower portion of a result page, the upper portion of the result page, including the advertisements, may move off the current screen and may not be visible to the user anymore. Advertisers may lose advertising opportunities and the search engine service provider may lose revenue.
Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a system and method which may help to improve the efficiency of online advertising.